Bitter Pill
Bitter Pill ranks as one of the strongest of the Overlords in terms of sheer brutal power. She's not afraid to use it, either. When Bitter Pill is called to carpet, Bitter Pill comes. Bitter Pill has had history with superheroes and law enforcement since her early teens. She always wanted power and for people to be afraid of her and now that she has both she has no intention of letting it go. Origin "Honestly, Jessie. You're such a bitter pill!" That statement was one of the nicer thing that Jessie Abrahms mother ever said to her. Almost every other time it was swearing, telling her what a waste she was, and telling her that she had never been wanted. As for her father his words didn't hit hard. His fists did. So Jessie learned to hide, and she learned to be afraid. It was a pity too, because Jessie was such a beautiful child. By the time she was ten she was all but living on the streets of The Row, afraid to go home. She fell in with a crowd that appreciated her looks and pitied her situation. Jessie never bothered with school, her new 'family' taught her all the skills she needed: how to shoot a gun, how to rob, and eventually how to kill. Most importantly, she learned how to stop being afraid. There was only one man she still geared very much, this thin and horriffic boogeyman of The Row called Scarecrow but then only stupid people weren't afraid of Scarecrow. Still, Jessie found herself admiring the Overlord from afar and wishing she could be just like him: rich, powerful, and someone to be afraid of. Jessie's fortune and fate changed on the day that her mutant power surfaced. It was a hot August night and 13 year old Jessie had spent the day complaining of feeling hot and feverish. Her parents lived up to her expectations and ignored her complaints, so she went to her street family instead. Her boyfriend, 20 year old Renaldo Alvarez, was genuinely concerned for Jessie and insisted they go to hospital. There, in the waiting room, Jessie immolated for the first time. It caused a panic. People were hurt, including Renaldo; whom suffered third degree burns over most of his body. Jessie, in panic, began hurling tongue of flame as the police and security guards of the hospital but was finally subdued. She was taken right away to the Bellreave Hospital for Metahumans in Millennium City's North Hills. When her parents were contacted the elfer Abrahms' decided they wanted nothing to do with "the freak", so Jessie was institutionalized. Jessie was quick to become boss of Bellreave. Whilst incarcerated there and watching exploits of super heroes on television she began to formulate a plan of making her life much easier, and improving the lives of girls just like her. She associated with the other thrown away teenage mutants locked in Bellreave like herself and soon came to be close friends with Zoey Marchant and Tracy Melrose. She laid out her idea to them and when the two other girls became as starry eyed about it as she was, they combined their forces, lashed out, and escaped from Bellreave. Going into hiding, Jessie was quick to put her plan into play. She fitted herself and her two friends with cheerleading outfits and wigs and together they chose a name: The B-Girls. On their very first job the B-Girls -- Bitter Pill, Bubblegum, and Bully -- got away from the bank with close to $300,000. Under Bitter Pill's leadership the B-Girls became a force to be reckoned with. For nearly three years the B-Girls operated as a smash and grab villain group, earning street cred by defeating a number of heroes including the core members of Heroes Unlimited. But the B-Girls soon fell pray to betrayal when Zoey Marchaunt, Bubblegum, defected and lead Heroes Unlimited straight to the B-Girl's hideout. This time, Jessie was sentenced to Stronghold. She never made it to incarceration. Mastermind had long been watching the B-Girls and was impressed by their skill and in particular the tactical genius of their leader. He sent Advent agents to intercept the convey taking Jessie to Stronghold and freed her, then offered her a position as the Overlord of Gold Coast City. Jessie was quick to accept. One of her first acts as Overlord was to appoint three of her closest friends: Brat, Bully, and Byte to Overlord positions themselves. She then sent the B-Girls to the apartment she grew up in. That day is still known as Bitter Pill's Monday, when the B-Girl killed Jessie's parents and every other family living in the 24 apartment complex. Appearance & Personality Bitter Pill is an exceptionally attractive blonde with tanned skin and a Mona Lisa smile. She has long ago stopped wearing super-villain costuming and instead dresses fashionable in dress shirts, waistcoats, and slacks. She has a mature and professional bearing but a very short fuse. The slightest offenses can cause her to seek revenge. Bitter pill is very good at playing her emotions close to her chest, she makes it a point to ensure that others have a very difficult time in ascertaining what she is thinking. Bitter Pill lives in the penthouse apartment of the Albino casino is Bader Field district of Gold Coast City. Though it is well known where she lives very few attempts are made by Law Enforcement to come knocking; the first half-dozen times they tried to do that resulted in the deaths of 34 officers. Oddly enough, Bitter Pill is extremely protective of her city. She doesn't tolerate violent crimes against the Bucket's residents or its tourists. Some think this attitude is because she has turned over a new life and become one of the good guys but the truth is that Bitter Pill simply understands economics. Violent crime means less tourism, less tourism means less money flowing into The Bucket's coffers. Whenever Bitter Pill gets wind of gang activity or supers trying to establish them she is quick to unleash the B-Girls. If the Girls can't get the job done, which is an extremely rare event, then Bitter Pill will step in and get her own hands dirty. Quote "Oh, Heroes Unlimited. How nice to see you. Welcome to Gold Coast City. Now, play nice or play dead. Your choice." Powers, Skills, & Talents Bitter Pill is one of the strongest pyrokinetics along the West Coast. She is able to mentally vibrate the molecules of the air around herself with such violence that they spontaneously ignite. She can then utilize the resulting flames for a variety of purposes. Bitter Pill has been observed to direct sheets of flame from her hands much like flamethrowers; these flame bursts are hot enough to incinerate flesh and bone on contact. In addition to tongues of flame Bitter Pill can produce a blast from each hand to attack two foes at once, lob fireballs that explode with the force of ten sticks of dynamite, immolate herself so that most physical attacks such as bullets melt before they can strike her, and this immolation offers her great protection from energy attacks. She cannot be affected by her own fire powers, not can she be injured by other heat and fire attacks or environments. She has been seen to stand, unhurt, in a furnace measuing 1200 degrees farenheit. It is not known whether or not she could survive being thrown into lava or similar hot semi-liquids. Bitter Pill is also able to invoke, direct, and command heat, forming raw heat into bolts, blasts, and waves identical to her fiery assaults. She can, at will, generate a thick dense cloud of smoke that sends foes reeling with stinging eyes, inability to catch their breath, and minor burns caused by the hot smoke. She is able to use this heat generation to fly and hover. Bitter Pill is a natural leader, with an innate knack for tactical games. She is also a professional business woman, capable of running a business from concept, to marketing, to payroll. She is fluent in English and Spanish and has a great many contacts withing the criminal underworld including The Advent, JenCorp, and Olympic Industries. Agents Bitter Pill is unlike many Advent Overlords in that she doesn't use hired agents, finding that a mob of people--even in that mob is armed with high-tech weaponry and loyal to a fault--are still a mob of people and therefore dangerous, unpredictable, and uncontrollable. She would just rather not bother. Bitter Pill's elite strike for is the 20 lady criminal team B-Girls. Bitter Pill, as the founder of the original team, does everything she can to ensure that the Girls are well protected, well fed, and have hard to find safe houses and hide outs. By treating them so well Bitter Pill has ensured the B-Girl's loyalty. She does have a few operative working within Gold Coast City's police department, Mayor's office, the District Attorney's office, and the Gold Coast City Council. These moles constantly keep her appraised of political situations, especially those which speak of a superhero or supervillain team trying to muscle their way into residence in The Bucket.